I can’t believe I just completed the final ride, the Baird Peak, in my first ever build phase. Two weeks ago, I would have seriously doubted if I could finish the training block at all.
One reason is that I might have prematurely increased the training volume from low to medium. The rides felt good up to the second week, but I started to see my performance declining at the end of week three. Despite a meager FTP improvement on week five, I felt increasingly weaker and had to cut longer weekend rides shorter and shorter.
After watching one of TR blog videos about over-reaching and importance of recovery, I decided to change two things. First, I took a 3 day-break and gave my self an extra recovery day after every ride. Second, I also started to change my diet from majority simple-carb dishes like pasta to more complex meals consisting grains, beans and vegetables. On those earlier rides, I would felt famished after 90 minute rides or longer, but after the diet adjustment I felt fine even after a 2 hour ride.
Despite fewer hours on the bike weekly, I actually felt stronger every ride and manage to finish today’s ride pretty strong which is a decent confidence boost. The question for me now is how I should approach my next training sessions, especially since no event is scheduled anywhere in the near term due to obvious circumstances.
Feedback and comments will be most welcome.